Player of the Game: Bruins-Penguins Game 2

Before fans at the Consol Energy Center could even get comfortable in their seats for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Brad Marchand put the Bruins up 1-0 just :28 seconds into the game and the B’s never looked back.

“We wanted to make sure we had a big start,” Marchand said. “It was nice to get a couple early and we did a good job not letting up after that.”

Marchand netted two goals in the B’s 6-1 stomping of the Penguins giving him four goals and five assists in his last eight games. It was his third multiple-point game of this post-season and eighth of his career.

Although his first goal was big, his second goal of the night may have been that much bigger giving the B’s another three-goal lead.

Brandon Sutter sniped one past Tuukka Rask for the Penguins first goal of the series with :34 seconds left cutting the B’s lead to 3-1, but Marchand answered quickly shortly after beating Marc-Andre Fluery with :9 seconds left to silence the crowd and regain the momentum heading into the second frame.

After the game, Marchand talked about the significance of his second goal of the night.

“Yeah, it was good for us,” Marchand said. “They were getting some momentum off that goal there and we did a good job of kind of crushing that and it’s always a tough thing when another team scores a goal after you score a big goal, but we are happy we were able to do that.”

Marchand was all over the ice in Game 2 playing like the pest he is. He had four shots on goal, had 14:41 of total ice time and compiled a plus-4 rating.

His only slip up was his intentional penalty tripping Sidney Crosby, but the B’s killed off the power-play and Marchand made up for it by scoring two big goals at two crucial times in the game.

Marchand described how his team is feeling after taking the first two games in Pittsburgh.

“Yeah, we are happy with the outcome,” Marchand said. “It’s going to be very tough. We know they are going to come out extremely hard and we are going to need to be ready for that.”

For a player who didn’t score at all versus the Toronto Maple Leafs and received criticism for it, has answered the bell versus the Rangers and now the Penguins.

He now has four goals and seven assists with a plus-6 rating in the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs. It is safe to say the “Nose Face Killah” has found his way again at lighting the lamp for the Black and Gold.

This was a full 60 minute effort by the Black and Gold. Many players were deserving of praise tonight including: Nathan Horton, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Tuukka Rask, Jaromir Jagr-the list goes on. But, one has to look at Marchand’s timing of both goals and how they really changed the whole complexion of the game.

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